A New Beginning.

Today was a good day. New job, new government leadership ... new feelings of optimism.

Watching all of the Inauguration Day traditions, I found myself in awe of what I was witnessing. I don't think I even watched when Bush (the second one) was sworn into office. This morning, I could hardly peel myself away from the TV in order to make it on time to my first day at the new job — and that was more than an hour before he laid his hand on the same Bible as Abraham Lincoln used at his first inauguration in 1861. Today was a once in a lifetime type of occurrence. Even if after four years he's re-elected or a woman is voted into the presidential office, this morning was a truly unique and landmark event in the history of this country. It will be studied and discussed well after everyone that was alive to witness it has passed. And we saw it, or heard it or YouTube'd it. Some day, you may be asked, 'Where were you when Barack Hussein Obama was sworn into office?' It's worth remembering.

After the bumbling oath (well done, Mr. Chief Justice) and once Obama was officially sworn into the post of President of the United States of America, his speech reinforced why he is the newfound inspiration of a country (most of it, at least). Afterward, the critics, analysts and experts said it was unimpressive and lacked "immortality" (it didn't reach Lincoln/FDR/JFK levels). But if you were watching the live telecast and witnessing the emotion in the eyes of Americans, the celebratory smiles of Kenyans and the ear-to-ear grins of residents in the town of Obama, Japan, you knew that it was a success. Then again, with the hope and anticipation that his presidency elicits, it may have been a foregone conclusion that his speech would have such an effect.

When he finished his oath, approached the microphone and smiled, I had goosebumps and tingling creeping down my spine. Panning over the sea of enthusiastic supporters, it was uplifting to see so much happiness; there wasn't much of that spirit B.B. (Before Barack). They say bad things come in three, well, let's hope the same is true for good things: the 'Miracle on the Hudson,' the beginning of Obama's presidency and ... the upturn of the economy? Time will tell. But it's surely a good start to a New Year.